An Important Permit

One of my favourite scenes in the movie Caddyshack was when Bill Murray’s character, Carl Spackler, recounts the time he allegedly caddied in Tibet for the Dalai Lama. Carl had vivid recollections:…“The flowing robes, the grace, bald, striking…big hitter, the Lama.” And how instead of paying a tip the Dalai Lama informed him that “when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." To which Carl added “So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.”

Well, I’m not expecting to have total consciousness upon death (at least I hope I don’t), but I have just attained a new status and all it took was filling out a bit of paperwork. It was the “Application for the Grant of a Permit For the Purchase, Possession, Transport or Consumption of Intoxicating Liquor By a Non-Muslim/Foreigner Or Tourist.” In short, I now have a Licence to Drink, or more importantly, the ability to acquire booze.

Alcohol is illegal in Pakistan. However, its consumption by non-muslims is tolerated if done discretely. Islamabad hasn’t exactly been party central so I haven’t really missed my normal consumption levels. However, as it only cost about $3 to get the special stamp in my passport I thought it was a good investment.

On the application I had to fill in my name, address, religion and even my father’s name. I’m not really sure what my parents' response would be if they were contacted for permission. Today one of our Christian staff took three of us to the Permits Office to get our approvals. It felt like being a teenager again, going with a bootlegger. Except this time our bootlegger was younger than the two 40ish and one 60ish year-olds in his company.

The permit is valid for six months, but is capped at either 6 one-quart bottles of spirits, 18 bottles of wine, or 96 bottles of beer (sounds like a song). One of my colleagues in hopes of having his quota increased had a doctor sign a form declaring him to be an alcoholic. He was not successful.

I don’t think I will be rushing out to make any acquisitions, but in an emergency setting its always good to prepared. Now I have my Licence to Drink…so I have that going for me, which is nice.